Received from Rich Ross, President of Discovery Channel, my invitation to the premiere in Los Angeles on August 1st of “Harley And The Davidsons” The series tells the story of the birth of the iconic brand launched in 1903 by two friends from Milwaukee, William Harley and Arthur Davidson.

In the series, Michael Huisman (Daario Naharis on “Game of Thrones”) will star as Walter Davidson, while Robert Aramayo will play William (Bill) Harley and Bug Hall will portray Arthur Davidson.

Harley and the Davidsons is set to premiere on the Discovery Channel Monday, Sept. 5, with its first two-hour installment. Two additional two-hour installments will air over the next two nights, Tuesday, Sept. 6, and Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016.

The best and most accurate source of early Harley-Davidson history I have encountered is Herbert Wagner’s “At The Creation – Myth, Reality, and the Origin of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, 1901-1909” It blows away many myths that have long been accepted as facts. Whether this show is historically factual or not, it should be entertaining and put motorcycling in a positive light.

Sadly, most of these docudramas do more harm than good, making up a lame story where a good one already exists. I’m sure the episode where Bill and Walter are trapped in the original 37th ST shed and surrounded by zombies will be exciting, though.

Comes at an interesting time as the company is in troubled waters with the brake recall and shipping
bikes to dealers that are not selling. The Harley shops in my area are down to skeleton crews with most
employees laid off. It is not just the financial slump the factory is just too slow to adapt change!

This is really a sad, very poorly written series. Harley may be having some sales issues, but if I thought that Harley was somehow behind it, the show comes off as sort of desperate. It’s incredibly predictable, goes out of its way to make HD seem like the all-American good guys and Indian as the evil empire. If it wasn’t for the racing scenes and bike replicas, it wouldn’t be worth watching at all. Too bad.